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Chickpea variety Himachal Bharat (large-seeded kabuli)

Himachal Bharat (HK-94-134, also released as HK 1) is an extra-large-seeded kabuli chickpea variety developed by Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (CSK HPKV), Palampur and notified for release for the North-Western Hills Zone and the North-West Plains Zone. It produces some of the largest seed (100-seed weight 45-50 g) among Indian kabuli releases and is grown for premium export and the high-value gift-pack chana market.

Key features

  • Breeder: CSK HPKV Palampur (Himachal Pradesh)
  • Notified: North-Western Hills Zone (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand hills, J&K plains) and North-West Plains Zone (parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan)
  • Duration: 145-160 days (long-duration; sown October-November, harvested April-May)
  • Yield potential: 1500-2000 kg/ha rainfed; 2200-2500 kg/ha with 2-3 irrigations
  • Grain: extra-bold, creamy-white kabuli; 100-seed weight 45-50 g; passes 10 mm sieve, qualifying for premium export grade
  • Plant type: semi-erect, 50-65 cm tall
  • Disease reaction: moderately resistant to ascochyta blight (the principal NWPZ constraint); moderately susceptible to fusarium wilt under heavy inoculum

Cultivation zones

Himachal Bharat is grown in the hill valleys of Himachal Pradesh (Kangra, Hamirpur, Una, lower Mandi), Uttarakhand foothills (Dehradun, Nainital terai), J&K plains (Jammu, Kathua, Samba), and select pockets of Punjab and Haryana where the long-duration crop fits the cool November-April window. Sowing is from late October to mid-November on residual moisture or a pre-sowing irrigation; seed rate is 100-120 kg/ha given the large seed size, at 30-40 x 10 cm spacing. Nutrient package is 20 kg N + 50 kg P2O5 + 20 kg K2O/ha as basal. Two protective irrigations — at branching (35-40 DAS) and pod-fill (90-100 DAS) — are recommended in the plains zone.

Pests and diseases

The variety needs a preventive fungicide programme against ascochyta blight in the cool-humid NWPZ — typically 1-2 sprays of mancozeb 75 WP at 2.5 kg/ha or propiconazole 25 EC at 500 ml/ha during March-April rains. It is susceptible to fusarium wilt on wilt-sick plains soils, so use bio-seed treatment (Trichoderma viride 4-6 g/kg) and avoid back-to-back chickpea. Gram pod borer needs pheromone-trap monitoring and need-based diamides from flower-bud stage.

Usage and adoption

Himachal Bharat commands a price premium of Rs 1,500-3,000/quintal over standard kabuli (KAK-2) in mandi prices because of its extra-large 10 mm seed size, preferred by canners in Europe and West Asia and by the Indian gift-pack and namkeen industry. Adoption is constrained by its long duration (which clashes with paddy nursery preparation in plain-zone rotations) and by the ascochyta-blight risk in humid years. It remains a niche premium variety rather than a mainstream cultivar.

See also: Bengalgram crop, KAK-2 kabuli, Chickpea ascochyta blight, Chickpea fusarium wilt, Chickpea MSP procurement.

Sources

  1. Himachal Bharat kabuli chickpea. CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur.
  2. AICRP-Chickpea PC report 2022-23. ICAR-IIPR.
  3. Kabuli chickpea improvement in India. ICRISAT.